Realising the Truth
by Miss L Croft
Summary: Set just after 'Countrycide' so spoilers to that episode, and of course 'Cyberwoman'. Jack begins to realise the truth of just how much Ianto means to him. No language, but some descriptions of gory injuries and what-not.
1. Chapter 1

'I'll take 'im now,' Owen said to the medic who was inspecting Ianto's wounds. The medic frowned, but moved awawy from the vehicle anyway, going to talk to another medic who had been bandaging Gwen's injury, and administering pain killers. Tosh was standing next to Gwen, looking shaken, her eyes not seeing what was going on around her, but with a hand placed comfortingly on Gwen's shoulder. Jack was standing away from them all, arms crossed, looking grimly about him, eyes moving from one group of his team to another. Owen began to gently press around Ianto's ribcage, then stopped abruptly with a grunt.

'I'm going to have to take this off,' he said, tugging at Ianto's shirt. Ianto vaguely nodded, and then leant back against the side of the car. Owen began to unbutton the shirt, and then tugged it open. Ianto's gaze drifted over to Jack, who met his gaze with a frowning look, he was intently staring at Ianto. Ianto's attention was drawn back to Owen when he let out a barely disguised gasp, having drawn open Ianto's shirt. His chest was mottled with bruises, and there were several small areas where the skin had been broken, and trails of blood had dried around them. 'Alright?,' Owen asked. Ianto nodded, although even the small movements made his head swim, and stars flash before his eyes. Owen began gently pressing around his ribcage, feeling for fractures. Ianto screwed his eyes shut, breathing in sharply. Owen persistently poked the same place, and Ianto finally had to push his hand away.

'Sorry,' Owen said. 'Think you've broken it. Not much I can do about it I'm afraid.' He turned away and rummaged around in his bag for a minute, before takng out a tube of ointment. As he turned back to Ianto, he was looking at Gwen, who did not notice, as she was talking quietly to one of the medics who stood about her and Tosh. He undid the cap of the cream, and dragged his eyes back to Ianto, beginning to gently rub cream on Ianto's bruises. Ianto took his wrist, and stopped him, taking the cream in the other hand.

'Go to her, I can manage this.'

'No you can't, you shouldn't be moving at all yet,' Owen said, reaching for the cream, but another hand got there first.

'I can do it Owen, you go see to Gwen.' Jack had strode over, and took the cream from Ianto's hand, giving Owen a light, comforting slap on the back. Owen nodded thanks, and then walked off towards Gwen and Tosh. Jack looked at Ianto, and sighed. He moved closer, his leg brushing against the inside of Ianto's, which were spread to support his fragile body. He didn't speak as he squeezed some of the ointment onto his fingers, and then began slowly rubbing it across Ianto's bruises. Ianto sighed deeply, shutting his eyes.

'I can do it sir, it's fine.' He pushed Jack's hand away, but Jack took his hand.

'Ianto, you're not. You..' Jack trailed off. Ianto felt a lump in his throat that was nothing to do with his beating, and found he had to blink all to often to keep his eyes clear. Jack sat down abruptly next to Ianto, and took him in his arms. Ianto let the tears overcome him, and put an arm around Jack, sobbing into his shoulder. Jack moved one hand to the back of Ianto's head, burrying his hand in Ianto's soft brown hair. 'Oh, Ianto,' he said, kissing him on the forehead. As Ianto's breath shook, piercing pain ran through him from his broken rib, but he couldn't stop, he tried to control himself, but it made no difference. A hideous montage ran through his mind, shots of Lisa screaming, dying, the cannibals, freezers full of legs and feet, and then, to his surprise, a wash of relief went through him when he remembered Jack's 'CPR', despite the events that followed. He put his other arm round Jack, and held onto him tight, even though the pressure hurt him.

'I'm sorry sir, so sorry.' Jack moved his hands to Ianto's waist, and pushed him away, staring into his eyes.

'Don't be. Please don't be. You don't need to think about that anymore.' Ianto knew 'that' meant Lisa, and his betrayal. He sighed, and Jack put a hand to his cheek. 'Please let me help you, please let me in.' He leant in and put his lips to Ianto's, gently kissing him. Ianto sat straighter, pressing back into Jack's lips, and brushed his tongue along them. Jack gently pushed him back again. 'We need to get you home, and I need to get your wounds sorted.' He gave Ianto one last kiss, and then returned to rubbing him.

They arrived back at the hub hours later, after myriad forms had been filled in, statements taken, and painkillers administered. Gwen was laid down on one of the camp beds in the back of the SUV, and Jack drove, with Owen next to him, and Tosh and Ianto in the middle. Tosh was beginning to break out of her daze, and kept a close eye on Ianto, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, occasionally whispering in his sleep. Tosh was unsettled by it, the main word she could recognise being 'Lisa'. She glanced at Jack every now and then, his expression stern, seeming to neither see or hear what was going on in the car. Ianto's breathing was irregular at times, and at one point he dug in fingers into the seat of the car, his eyes tightly screwed shut. Tosh edged towards him slightly, and stroked the top of his hand, before gently taking it in her own and stroking it with her thumb. He seemed to settle after this, and fell into quiet unconsciousness. As they went inside, Owen and Tosh helped Gwen, and Jack supported Ianto. No-one spoke as they went inside, and without anyone giving any orders, they assembled in the board room. Jack gently placed Ianto in a chair on one side, and sat next to him, the other three sat at the other.

'I need to get home, Rhys will be worried,' Gwen said, first to speak a word.

'Is she all right to go?,' Jack asked Owen.

'Should be, just needs to take it easy, and not drive.'

'What about you Tosh, feeling okay?,' Jack asked, turning to face her. She turned away from Ianto, who was sitting opposite, and who she could not tell was conscious.

'Yes, I'm fine. A little dazed that's all. And confused,' she added, by way of a joke. One that only Jack seemed to get. Jack looked to Owen.

'I'm fine, jesus, nothing much happened to me. I can give lifts,' he said. 'He can't go anywhere,' he added, pointing at Ianto.

'I figured that. Okay then, Ianto can stay here, Owen, give the girls lifts, all of you take tomorrow off. Feel free to take more time off Gwen, just let me know. See you two in the morning,' he said to Owen and Tosh. Tosh offered her hand to Gwen, who pulled herself up, and they slowly made their way down the spiral staircase. Jack sat down and watched the three of them as they left the hub. His earpiece bleeped, and then Owen's voice came through it.

'I presume I don't need to tell you to make sure he rests?'

'Owen, bad though I may be, I'm not that bad.'

'Okay, make sure he stays still, you can give him some more painkillers in about two hours if he needs them. Try to make him sleep, and don't give him any food. If he wants something to drink, give him only very small sips. Keep his temperature constant, he's probably concussed and in shock.'

'Now you're just teaching me to suck eggs, Owen.'

'Okay, see you in the morning, Cap'n,' Owen said, the joker back in his voice. Jack sighed and took out his earpiece, placing it on the table. He turned to Ianto, who he found was looking at him.

'Come on. We need to get you to bed.'

'Sir,' Ianto began.

'It's outside office hours Ianto. My name's Jack.' Ianto sighed, summing up his energy, and sitting straight.

'Jack, I want to let you in. I really do. But I don't trust myself.' Jack leant forward, taking Ianto's jaw between his finger and thumb, and pulling him into a kiss.

'Let's not talk now, you're too tired. And drugged, don't forget that!,' he said jokingly. He took Ianto's hand, and pulled him up, before wrapping Ianto's arm around his own shoulders, and putting his other arm round Ianto's waist, slowly moving through to his own room. He sat him on the bed, and knelt in front of him. He took each of Ianto's hands in his own, and kissed them.

'Ianto, I love you. I've never felt more terrified in all my life as I did when I saw them with a knife at your throat. I've never felt such anger. How could I ever let your past get in the way?' He moved forward, wrapping his arms around Ianto, and resting his head on his lap. Ianto pulled him back up, and kissed him, tears in his eyes, before he let Jack slip back to his lap. After he doesn't know how long, Jack kissed his legs, and stood up.

'Lie down, I'll get you something clean to wear.'

'Can I not shower?'

'I don't think it'd be a good idea, no. Sorry.'

'It's fine.' Ianto carefully bent over, untying his shoelaces. Jack came back into the room, carrying a crisp white shirt, maybe one of his own, maybe one of the spares Ianto kept stored in his cubby hole upstairs. He walked quickly over to Ianto, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

'Leave it to me,' he said. He took Ianto's shoes off, and gently lifted his legs onto the bed. Ianto lay his head on the pillow, and his eyes shut almost straight away. After a moment, he heard Jack's footsteps leaving the room.

'Stay!,' he called, and opened his eyes, seeing Jack standing in the doorway.

'I was hoping you'd say that.' Jack walked over, sat on the edge of the bed removing his own shoes, undid his braces, and took his trousers off, undoing his shirt. He pulled the duvet up, and gently settled in beside Ianto, wrapping an arm round him and giving him a final kiss on the forehead, before he drifted into the most blissful sleep he'd known.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack was jerked into consciousness by the sound of Ianto coughing. He rolled sharply in the bed to see Ianto coughing drily, facing away from him. Jack sat up in bed, and put a hand to Ianto's forehead. It was cold and clammy, and the coughing was worsening. He was curled slightly, crumpled would be a better word, and Jack lightly pulled him straight. With this he saw Ianto's face, the terror in his eyes, the pain in his expression. His hands had a tinge of blue to them. Jack was torn, he wanted to stay with him, but he had to go and get his earpiece. He ran through to the board room.

'Owen?! Owen!,' he screamed into the headset. He was on Owen's frequency, but got no reply, so he opened it up to all frequencies.

Gwen was lieing in bed, draped over Rhys, her side hurting, but so happy. She was so happy to be with Rhys,he was warm and held her tight against him, and she wanted to stay forever in the warmth of the duvet, cuddling up to the man she loved. Suddenly her earpiece, on the desk in the other room, craackled into life.

'Owen?! Where are you?! I need you here now! Ianto's dying!.' She sat up.

'What's going on?,' Rhys asked her, sitting up slowly and rubbing his eyes.

'Something's the matter with Ianto,' she said, fright in her voice. 'I've got to go to work.'

'You can't go anywhere in your state.' Jack's voice came from the earpiece again.

'Help, Owen, please, I need you now, I..can't...help him,' Jack was sobbing, and Rhys opened his eyes fully.

'You need to go?'

'Of course, I need to get to them.'

'Right then, let's go. Gwen looked a little confused. Rhys leapt out of bed and began passing her her clothes, pulling his own on as he went. He disappeared from the room, as she staggered into her jeans.

'I mean, I just don't know what to think of people anymore. I never thought anyone would be capable of such a thing. But they were so matter of fact about it,' Tosh said. She was in her own house, a glass of white wine in hand, Owen sat up against her on the sofa. Owen was staring deep into her eyes. 'Maybe this is it,' she thought.

'We can never even try and understand half the stuff we see Tosh. We just have to try and find some way of coping with it.' He put his glass of wine down on the coffee table. She watched him.

'Most of it I can understand though, I can see some motive, but what does it take to make normal human beings think that the only answer to their problems is to..is to start eating eachother?' Without raelly realising it, she was handing him her glass of wine.

'I think the only thing we can do Tosh, is try and forget it.' He leant forward and brushed her hair out of her face. He rested his hand on her cheek, and they leant into eachother. Then they both jumped, as her earpiece crackled into life, on loudspeaker setting as it was not being worn.

'Owen?! Where are you?! I need you here now! Ianto's dying!' Jack's voice came from the earpiece, and they both stood up suddenly, and ran to different ends of the house to get carkeys and weapons. They met in the hallway, rushed eachothers coats on, and ran for the door, before Tosh ran back to get her earpiece.

'Help, Owen, please, I need you now, I..can't...help him,' Jack was crying, and Tosh felt her heart break a little for him. They ran down the stairs to the ground floor, and to Owen's car, the faster model. He pulled into the drivers seat.

'Knew I shouldn't have left it here,' he said, placing in his earpiece, as they simultaneously slammed there doors.

'You know you won't be able to come in?,' Gwen asked Rhys, as they slammed their car doors and Rhys started the engine.

'Gwen, all I know is that one fo your friends is dying, and that they both need your help. I don't care if I won't be able to meet them.' Gwen smiled an uneasy smile, her mind full of images of Jack and Ianto, and she put a hand on Rhys' arm.

'Thank you,' she said, as he spead through a red light.

'Don't worry, the others are on their way, Owen will be here in a minute,' Jack said, one hand on Ianto's forehead, tears trickling steadily from his eyes. 'You're going to be fine.' Ianto's face and chest were all slightly blue now, his left arm bluer than anywhere else. His coughing wass more severe, and his eyes were fluttering open and shut, as if he was fighting to remain conscious. 'Oh god, please don't die, please don't die,' Jack said, kissing Ianto's forehead and cheeks.

'Jack?! Where are you?!' A wave of nauseous relief flowed through him as he heard Owen's voice.

'I'm up here!' Owen leapt up the stairs and into Jack's room, carrying his bag of medical supplies with him. He almost fiercely pushed Jack out of the way, and knelt next to Ianto. Jack was accepting, and when we saw Tosh running in, followed by Gwen, and a large man he had never met before but knew to be Rhys, he didn't complain. Owen was tapping Ianto's chest, and put a stethoscope to it, before quickly standing up.

'We need to get him into the theatre, now.' Jack went forward to help him carry Ianto, but Owen put gentle hands on his shoulders. 'I think you should leave this to us, Jack.' He gently pushed Jack towards Tosh and Gwen, who wrapped comforting arms around him, and he pulled them both into a tight hug, further sobs escaping him. 'Rhys,' Owen said. The two men went forward, and carefully picked Ianto up. Rhys wasn't quite sure what on earth was going on, but he knew that he had to do whatever was told him, and was more than willing to help. His brain would let him process all the odd things he had seen later. They carried Ianto down to the surgury area, and lay him down on the table. The others followed, more slowly, the girls trying to relax Jack a little with comforting words, none of which he heard. He ran down the steps, and held Ianto's hand, kneeling nex to him, kissing it, as Owen ripped open his shirt, then turned away to the instrument table, putting on his white coat, and picking up a large syringe, and a chest tube. By now Ianto was barely conscious, and Owen wasted no time in taking a wide syringe, and pushing it into Ianto's chest. He pulled on it, until air was replaced with blood and bubbles, which was when he removed the syringe and replaced it with a plastic tube.

'Watch out,' he said, as he placed it. As soon as it was in, blood streamed out of it, splattering on the floor. They all turned away, with cringes and winces, as the flow of blood gradually stopped. Owen immediately removed it and replaced it with another. Ianto had stopped coughing, and now took a long, sudden breath, as the pipe was inserted. As soon as his breath was regained, Owen moved again and placed a chest tube down his windpipe, and set up mechanical breathing. 'Rhys,' he said, offering the mechanical breahting apparatus to him. Rhys jumped forward and took it. 'Steady, even breaths,' Owen said. He turned to the others. 'I'm going to have to operate. Tosh, stay with me, Rhys as well, Gwen, take Jack.' Jack shook his head.

'No, no, I can't leave him.'

'Trust me Jack, it's for the best, Owen said, turning away and fetching the things he would need from various cupboards.

'Come on Jack,' Gwen said, taking his hand, pulling him away from Ianto, and leading him away. She didn't really know where to take him, not his room, nowhere in sight of the surgery room, so she ended up taking him down to the holding cells.

'Okay, I need absolute control of both of you, this isn't going to be easy,' Owen said. 'Scrub in,' he said, taking the apparatus from Rhys and motioning to the sink.

It seemed like hours were passing. Gwen just sat on the floor of the holding cells corridor, and cradled Jack in her arms. He was either staring blankly into the distance or crying. Occasionally she'd venture comforting words, but they had no effect, so she eventually gave up. Her mind wandered, back up to the surgery, to Ianto, to Rhys. She didn't know what she was going to say to everyone when this was over, whether or not she'd have to retcon Rhys. She was just thankful, so thankful she had him. Not a word of negative have he said, just ran to help her when she needed it most. She put a hand to her side, it still hurt a little, the stress of the night had amplified the pain, but it was nothing compared to how it had been, or how she knew Ianto must hurt. And Jack, in his heart. She leant her head on Jacks, and pulled him tighter, ready to wait as long as it might take.

They both jumped when the heavy cast iron door clanked open. They turned, and saw Rhys, tired and sad, standing in the doorway.

'Owen says you can go up now,' he said to Jack. Jack stood and ran past him, brushing against him on his way out. He stood where he was, looking at Gwen, who was still sat on the floor. She looked back, then began to cry, sobs gradually escaping her. Rhys strode forward, and sat in front of her.

'I don't deserve you,' she said. 'I really don't.'

'Don't say that, don't say that Gwen. I'm so sorry for everything. For not being more understanding.'

'I wish I could have told you about it, all of it, everything. But I can't, I couldn't. Thank you so much for everything Rhys.' He held her in his arms, and kissed her forehead.

'I understand Gwen, it's all right. I should have known better. Just please let's forget it. We can move forward now.' He put a hand on her face and pulled her to face him. He smiled. 'Eh, at least I never have to worry about you cheating on me with your boss now, eh?' She couldn't help but laugh through her tears. 'Come on, let's go up, I'd like some sort of formal introduction.

Jack ran up the stairs; his heart feeling as if it was literally in his throat. Owen met him before he got to the surgery, but Jack lightly pushed him aside and ran on. He stopped at the railings, and nearly fainted from relief.

'Oh god, oh thank god,' he said, out of breath. Tosh was sitting on a chair next to the table, on which Ianto lay, white shirt stained with dark red patches of blood, and with darker purpley patches, also blood, and chest tube down with throat, now with automatic mechanics, eyes shut, but breathing easily. He slowly walked down the steps, and Tosh stood up.

'Here,' she said, moving the chair closer to Ianto. Jack took it, and sat close to Ianto, taking his hand. In his wrist was a needle connected to a drip, and tears came to Jack's eyes, which he swiftly wiped away with the back of his hand.

'Thank you Owen.' Owen stood at the stop of the stairs, watching Jack, exchanging a glance with Tosh.

'Don't mention it.' Jack leant in, a kissed Ianto on the cheek. He then stood up, turning to Owen, as Tosh came to Owen's side. Jack seemed a little more his usual self, although for once he looked tired. His eyes were red, and the area around them looked sore, there were bags under them, and specks of blood messed his shirt and trousers which he had thrown on whilst waiting for Owen to arrive.

'What happened?' Owen sighed, and sat on the top step.

'He was suffering from a double condition, a mixture of tension pneumothorax, more commonly known as collapsed lung, caused by a splinter of rib ructuring it. This created a sort of valve, meaning he never got enough pressure to breath in properly, hence the short sharp breaths. This lead to hypoxia. The puncture lead to haemothorax, which means he had blood in his pleural cavity. It's a miracle he survived as long as he did with he amount of oxygen he was getting. It's my fault, Jack. I should have seen it coming, should have checked mor thoroughly.' Tosh put a hand on his shoulder.

'It's not your fault Owen, you can't blame yourself. He's going to be alright?'

'Yeah, he should recover all right. Not sure the mechanical breathing is strictly necessary I'll take him off it in an hour or two, I want him to get back into breathing for himself, but the wound needs to close up a bit first. I treated it by draining the blood, as you saw, then when operating I went in and sewed up the puncture, and did what I could to encourage the chip to stay in one place, and re-attach. He should be fine. Though I'm thinking no fieldwork for a while.' Jack smiled, looking back at Ianto.

'We couldn't have done it without Rhys, Jack,' Tosh said, recalling another of the problems that needed to be sorted to Jack's mind. He'd been in such turmoil he'd hardly realised it was not normal to have Rhys in the hub. It was at that moment that Gwen and Rhys appeared, arms around eachother.

'Jack, I'm so sorry. He's alright?' Gwen asked.

'He's going to be fine. Thanks to Owen, Tosh, and Rhys.' With that he looked at Rhys. 'I don't think we've been formally introduced, bad manners Gwen!' He said, striding towards Rhys, offering his hand.

'Rhys, this is Captain Jack Harkness, my boss.' Rhys was a bit dazed, but shook Jack's hand. 'And this is Toshiko, aka Tosh, and Owen.' They all shook hands. 'And, as I'm guessing you've figured, that,' she looked down at him, 'is Ianto Jones. As a unit, known as Torchwood.' Jack looked at his watch. It was 4:35 in the morning.

'Okay, no-one leaves the hub. That includes Rhys. Go to the sleeping quarters, get some sleep, clean up if you want, and I don't expect anyone up before 10. Get up when you need to,' Jack said, before turning to Owen and saying 'is there anything I can do for him?'

'Not really. In a few hours I'll be back up, and I'll take him off the breathing apparatus, I'll get you.' Jack didn't mention that he wouldn't need to, wild horses couldn't drag him away from Ianto's side.

'Okay, good night everyone,' Jack said. 'Or should I say good morning?' They all said goodbye, and drifted off. Gwen and Rhys found a comfortable bed, and slept nearly on top of eachother. Tosh wasn't sure what to do, until Owen found her standing silently next to her cubby hole, looking for a shirt that fitted her badly enough to count as a nightshirt. He came up behind her and took her hand, pulling her into a strong, deep kiss, which she took great pleasure in reciprocating.

'We'll talk in the morning,' he said, before walking off to his own chosen corner of the hub. Tosh went to bed with a smile on her face, and slept soundly.

Jack sat down in the chair next to Ianto when the others had left, and took his hand in own. He leant against it, and kissed it. To his surprise, when he looked up, Ianto's eyes were slightly open, watching him. He took the hand from Jack's grasp, trailing the drip tube, and brushed Jack's cheek. One solitary tear trailed from his eye, and then he pulled Jack towards him. Jack sat forward, and leant his head on the table next to Ianto, and they fell asleep.

That was how Owen found them, two and a half hours later (he had fallen asleep, much as he had tried not to). He gently nudged Jack awake, and moved round to the top of the table.

'Will he be ok?,' Jack asked, sitting up and stretching.

'There's a chance he might puke if he wakes up while I'm taking this out. Hold his head.' Jack moved forward and took hold of Ianto's head, as Owen carefully removed the tube from Ianto's windpipe. As it came out Ianto started awake, but much to their relief, he did not even wretch. 'Deepthroater,' Owen thought to himself.

'Come on mate,' he said, giving Ianto a light slap on the back. 'Time to get you to bed.' Jack took the cue to lift Ianto in his arms, careful not to bend him too much, and lift him up into his bedroom. Owen sighed, but didn't bother trying to say anything. He knew what it felt like to need to be close to someone. Jack lay Ianto down on his bed, and knelt next to him.

'Just let 'im get to sleep,' Owen said, hesitating, then adding 'he'll be fine Jack, just fine.'

'Thank you Owen, Jack said, standing, and moving over to Owen. Slightly awkwardly, then with genuine warmth and friendship, they hugged, then Owen patted Jack on the back, and returned downstairs. Jack turned back to Ianto, and knelt back down, resting his head on the bed. He thought Ianto was asleep, but then he felt lips brush against his forehead.

'Sir,' Ianto began. 'Jack, I love you.' Jack raised his head.

'I love you too,' he said, and their lips united, tongues twining in a deep and intimate kiss. Ianto kissed him one last time on the forehead, brushing away the hair with his hand, and then let his head rest back on the pillow, and they fell asleep together.


End file.
